Mercenaries (map)
:This article is about the map. For other uses of the term "mercenaries", see mercenaries. Mercenaries is a Blizzard Map of the Month, a series of free maps released by Blizzard Entertainment for StarCraft. Dominion-allied mercenaries |side2=New Trinidad Pirates |side3= |side4= |commanders1= Arcturus Mengsk Various mercenary commanders |commanders2= |commanders3= |commanders4= |forces1=Various mercenary forces |forces2=New Trinidad Pirates |forces3= |forces4= |casual1= |casual2=Total |casual3= |casual4= |battle= }} The map can be played with one to three players. The number of players determines the number and strength of enemy forces you must defeat. Storyline Background The New Trinidad Pirates, based on space platforms over the empty world of New Trinidad, have attacked ships and outposts throughout the Koprulu Sector for decades. Due to recent terran governmental shifts and war with the United Earth Directorate, the creation of a standing militia strong enough to deal with them was impossible. In an attack from their space station over New Trinidad, sustained shelling from Arclite siege tanks led to the death of Jacqueline Angel, heiress to Angel Shipping. Universe News Network reported on the incident from Outpost 782XJG. Emperor Arcturus Mengsk of the Terran Dominion told mercenary recruiters that he must solve this problem. He didn't have the military force available to wipe out the pirates, but he had been provided money by various shipping interests, such Angel Shipping, to hire mercenaries to wipe out the pirates. He then dispatched recruiters to the space platform to help begin the assault. The Assault Mercenary recruiters hired specialized mercenary groups to assault the New Trinidad Pirates. The Pirates were defeated. Hiring the Mercenaries The players are given a choice as to how difficult they wish the mission to be. A more difficult mission has more difficult opponents, but also results in the players being given more resources. Then each player is given a recruiter and a choice of four mercenary groups. (The map actually has eight mercenary groups, but four are randomly selected to be available for the mission.) Each player can only select one mercenary group, and cannot "share" a group with another player. Each mercenary group has a leader (a modified hero unit) and a trio of special units that correspond to a regular unit. After selecting the mercenaries, the player is granted the leader and the three special units, and the player receives four workers and a town center for the race (effectively playing that race, even though they are treated as Terran for game purposes). Whenever a regular unit of the special unit type is made, that unit is immediately replaced by a special version of that unit at no cost, providing a valuable boost to the player's forces. Furthermore, "spellcasting" special units automatically start with full energy and all special abilities (including energy upgrades). The players start at locations near the center of the map, while the enemy forces occupy large bases at the corners of the map. Mercenary Selections The leader is listed first, followed by the group name and then the special unit types. *Commander Hale (Battlecruiser) **Hale's Commandos ***Elite Science Vessels *General Martin (Siege tank) **Martin's Marauders ***"Iron Golem" Goliaths *"Unholy" Tara (Ghost) **"Unholy" Tara's Stalkers ***DF/A-19 Wraith Mk2s. *Judicator Blackman (represented by a high templar) **Blackman's Reavers ***War Reavers. *Master Dabiri (Dark templar) **Dabiri's Shadow Company ***High Arbiters. *Lord Zyrkhan (Zealot) **Zyrkhan's Legion ***Pathfinder Scouts. *Gilson the Evil (Guardian) **Gilson's Oppressors ***Mastermind Overlords *Wise Old Torrasque (Ultralisk) **Swarm of the Torrasque ***Empress Queens. Trivia The concept seems to have been borrowed from TSR's Alternity game system setting, Star*Drive,Eckelberry, David, Baker, Richard and R. K. Post. Star*Drive (campaign setting). TSR, Inc., July 13th, 1998. ISBN 078690738X. another space opera setting. In the Lucullus system on the Verge of settled space, the Union Penates, a notorious criminal group, is headquartered in the habitat dome of Trinidad on the inhospitable planet of Penates (the citizenry must live in domed cities). TSR, the same company that created Alternity, created a crossover product entitled StarCraft: Alternity. Many of the mercenaries are named after Blizzard Entertainment personnel (such as Alan Dabiri, Shane Dabiri and Frank Gilson).Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. References 1999-03-26. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Mercenaries (in English). Map Archives: Mercenaries. StarCraft Compendium Map Archives. Category: Interbellum battles